El Paso Food Voices

In this episode of EPFV, Meredith Abarca speaks with Sandra Licon, from San Elizario, Texas Licon Dairy.  Sandra, who married into the Licon family, shares not only the journey of how Licon Dairy has become a much beloved establishments in El Paso Texas’ lower valley, but the matriarchal lineage of asadero cheese makers. The production of asadero cheese begun in California, and in the 1940s continued in Ysleta, Texas. Eugenio Linco, bought it from his father-in-law in 1963 and moved the operation to its current location in San Elizario, Texas. Sandra, beyond sharing the on-going history of cheese making and the expansion of the dairy, she also offers the story of how this dairy became a zoo which at one point included a camel. The Licon Dairy continues to grow as new generations add their own sazón to the kinds of cheeses, butter, and cream produce at the dairy. The Licon’s family commitment to the San Elizario community is evident in the partnerships they established with other locally own food entities in the area—like tortilla makers.

In this episode of EPFV, Eloisa Arenas talks with our guest, Rosalinda Guadalajara, a Ralámuli woman, about her Culinary Heritage and her indigenous community in Juarez, Chihuahua, on the border with El Paso, Texas. Rosalinda shares with us some ancestral recipes, like Pinole, and a couple of traditional ingredients as corn and quelites. They discuss the significance of Las Guardianas de la Cultura (The Guards of Culture) as preservers of family lineages, as well as some of the challenges the younger Ralámuli people face in keeping their traditions alive in the urban context, through cultural spaces such as Las Tres Marías restaurant or Festival Umukí. English Transcript Available Here.     

“To Eat or Not to Eat” is part of El Paso Food Voices’ special feature on “Culinary Heritage and Culinary Kinship” as it looks at the role of culinary dystopia. Culinary dystopia is the tensions that create toxic relationships between people through food, hindering the potential for kinship. We focus on culinary dystopia formed through restriction, looking at national restrictions such as the criminalization of beef in Nepal, restriction through racial and class oppression in the United States, and cultural and individual restrictions of food through a Mexican-American lens. Through viewing culinary dystopia, we explore how and where the positive and negative relationships of food both exist and create spaces where perceptions of food can be shifted.   Works mentioned in the episode are: Bennion, Natalie, Alisha H. Redelfs, Lori Spruance, Shelby Benally, and Chantel Sloan-Aagard. “Driving Distance and Food Accessibility: A Geospatial Analysis of the Food Environment in the Navajo Nation and Border Towns.” Frontiers in nutrition (Lausanne) 9 (2022): 904119–904119. Bordo, Susan. Unbearable Weight: Feminism, Western Culture, and the Body. 1st ed. University of California Press, 2023.

In this episode of EPFV's special feature on "Culinary Heritage and Culinary Kinship," we deal with the theme of a gustatory journey, exploring the profound impact of food on our sense of home and belonging. Sharing personal experiences of using food to reconnect with home while living away, we discuss the significance of dishes, Nepali mo:mo and eggs with chorizo in particular, in shaping identities and creating a sense of belonging. Drawing insights from the scholars such as Meredith E. Abarca, Claude Fischler, Jon D Holtzman, Cruz Miguel Ortíz Cuadra, David Sutton, and William Safron, this episode explores topics like home, incorporation, memory, palate memory, prospective memory, and diasporic nostalgia. Emphasizing the power of food to evoke the comfort of home through sensory experiences and associated memories, the episode invites listeners on a journey of rediscovering their own culinary connections.     Works mentioned in the episode are: Abarca, Meredith E. “Foreword.” Food identities at home and on the move: explorations at the   intersection of food, belonging and dwelling, Routledge (2020): xii-xix. Abarca, Meredith E., and Joshua R. Colby. "Food memories seasoning the narratives of our          lives." Food and Foodways 24, no. 1-2 (2016): 1-8. Fischler, Claude. "Food, self and identity." Social science information 27, no. 2 (1988): 275-292. Holtzman, Jon D. "Food and memory." Annu. Rev. Anthropol. 35 (2006): 361-378. Ortíz Cuadra, Cruz Miguel. "Eating Puerto Rico: A history of food, culture, and identity." (2013). Safran, William. "Diasporas in modern societies: Myths of homeland and return." Diaspora: A     journal of transnational studies 1, no. 1 (1991): 83-99. Sutton, David E. "Synesthesia, memory, and the taste of home." The taste culture reader: Experiencing food and drink (2005): 304-316.

In this episode, Samuel Rodriguez and Frank Nabi join Meredith Abarca to discuss the topic of food pleasure and culinary kinship. They examine the teachings of Epicurus and Mother Teresa in order to talk about the spiritual pleasure that sharing food with others can bring. Samuel and Frank both share personal stories of how sharing food with others brought them joy and helped them form a culinary kinship.     Works mentioned in the episode are: Annas, Julia. “Epicurus on Pleasure and Happiness.” Philosophical Topics 15, no. 2 (1987) Dennett, Carrie “Food is More Than Just Fuel — It’s Also Pleasure”. originally published May 23, 2018. https://www.seattletimes.com/life/wellness/food-is-more-than-just-fuel-its-also-pleasure/ Lucy Fischer West ‘Food Traditions from Afar.’” n.d. Www.youtube.com. Accessed November 28, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=uOB3CMX7pAE Machado, Eduardo, and Michael. Domitrovich. Tastes like Cuba: An Exile’s Hunger for Home. New York, N.Y: Gotham Books, 2007 “Robert Flores Spiritual Nourishment.” n.d. Www.youtube.com. Accessed November 28, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69xSDSdZwE8  

In this episode, Ana Munoz, Jake Pineda and Renuka Khatiwada join Meredith Abarca in a conversation where they define the idea of “belongingness,” and its connection to food. From Mexico to the U.S, and Nepal, Ana, Jake, and Renuka weave personal stories on important foods in their life that represent belonging and finding a home through these foods. As author Grace Cho writes in her memoir Tastes Like War, it is not about the “what” of eating but the “whys.” This episode is part of EPFV special feature on “Culinary Heritage and Culinary Kinship”     Works Mentioned in the Episode: Abarca, Meredith. 2022. “Elisa Licona Southern’s ‘Sobremesa the “Real” Meal.’” Www.youtube.com. 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3ma-A5_hT8. Cho, Grace M. 2021. Tastes like War. Feminist Press at CUNY. TED Talks 2022. 2022. “Food: A Third Culture Kid’s Sense of Identity. | Eric Pak | TEDxYouth@ISBangkok.” Www.youtube.com. February 22, 2022. https://youtu.be/yJIVqrqfZjU?si=AhVGaMYJMWF_35BG. TED Talks 2023. n.d. “Soul Roots:A Journey into Ancestry, Belonging, Food & Love | Jennifer Griffith | TEDxYouth@ACSBeirut.” Www.youtube.com. Accessed November 29, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMz6d0i34LQ. TEDx Talks. 2020. “How Food Can Be a Source of Intimacy, Identity, and Vulnerability | Jenny Dorsey | TEDxIVC.” YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gsR4ihE8LQ.

This episode is part of El Paso Food Voices’ special feature on "Culinary Heritage and Culinary Kinship.” Three graduate students from the University of Texas at El Paso coming from three different geo-political locations share their culinary stories: El Paso (Stephanie), Juarez—El Paso (Victor), and Nepal (Purna). These stories speak of empathetic passion, scarcity, and a deep yearning for home. Their conversation begins by sharing their typical “food choices” and come to a general conclusion such culinary choices have been influenced by a network of relationships not only with food but also people. Moreover, they come to a general understanding that food choice is part of developing a “culinary kinship” which goes beyond the socio-cultural legacy and expectations of heritage. Finally, the students explore the ways they embody such culinary kinship which manifests in different culinary occasions. Their stories speak of tasting new foods with childlike openness, overcoming scarcity of food, and longing for the warmth and familiarity of a homecooked meal away from home.     Works mentioned in the episode are: Abarca, Meredith E. “Charlas Culinarias (Culinary Chats): A Methodology and Pedagogy Expanding a Food Consciousness.” Food, culture, & society (2023): 1–13. Abarca, Meredith E., host. “Hugo Loera Cooking to Remember.” EL Paso Food Voices, August 14, 2022. https://youtu.be/1hitDyGnj-o Abarca, Meredith E., host. “Roman Wilcox Full Interview.” El Paso Food Voices, December 22, 2022. https://youtu.be/_3aKYqjbfSY Bittman, Mark. “What's Wrong with What We Eat.” TED, May 21, 2018. https://youtu.be/5YkNkscBEp0 Elebiyo-Okojie, Vivian. “There’s Something about Food.” TEDx Talks, October 28, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C6cRiHKCOg Goldwyn, Samuel. East Side Sushi. YouTube Movies and TV, October 14, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qt-OBSb_EGo. Sheena, Iyengar. “The Art of Choosing.” TED, July 26, 2010. https://youtu.be/lDq9-QxvsNU

In this episode of EPFV special feature on “Culinary Heritage and Culinary Kinship”, graduate students Marissa Bond, Fernanda Estrada and Tony Diaz discuss how the senses not only relate to the consumption of food but to the relationships, spaces and experiences that come from eating. This talk offers a window into personal stories that encompass a variety of sensorial experiences–from cooking with our hands, to dining alone, to even growing and feeding others. Utilizing key scholarship from food philosophers, Marissa, Fernanda and Tony dive deeply into intellectualizing the body’s relationship with food as well as how certain emotions like disgust and hunger play a role in our lives.      Works mentioned in the episode are: Abarca, Meredith E.  & Colby, Joshua R. Food memories seasoning the narratives of our lives. Food and Foodways. 2016. DOI: 10.1080/07409710.2016.1150101. “Yolanda Leyva: ‘Ancestral Foods.’” YouTube, September 30, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8HUqD9CNdc&t=3s  Korsmeyer, Carolyn. Savoring disgust: The foul and the fair in aesthetics. Oxford England: Oxford University Press. 2011.  Mylod, Mark . The Menu. Searchlight Pictures. 2022.  Wood, Machelle R., "Interview no. 1727" . Public Kitchens. 7.2019. https://scholarworks.utep.edu/ep_public/7 Young, A.M. & Eckstein, J. Terroir and topoi of the low country. In Conley, D., & Eckstein, J. (Eds.), Cookery: food rhetorics and social production (pp. 43-60). University of Alabama Press. 2020.    

On this episode of the EPFV Podcast, Meredith E. Abarca and Joshua Lopez discuss their role in the development of the El Paso Food Voices project, the podcast and the open-source digital archive website.  Meredith and Josh discuss the challenges and values of framing the “intimate histories” people share with one another through their food stories by using the terms culinary heritage and culinary kinship. In this episode, Meredith speaks about a new special feature to El Paso Food Voices podcast, an audio documentary on Culinary Heritage, that students in a graduate seminar on “Mapping Food Narratives” will be creating and hosting.

In this episode of EPFV, Meredith E. Abaca speaks with chef and restaurant owner of “El Charlatan: Taqueria y Ramen-Ya.” The restaurant is located in Socorro, Texas, about a 20 minute drive east of downtown El Paso.  Enrique shares his culinary journey that began with him cooking downtown El Paso, took him to Chicago, to eventually opening his own restaurant, El Charlatan. In Chicago, he worked for six months at Next Restaurant.  Recalls how his father was instrumental in getting him to Chicago. They used to watch cooking shows in Netflix such as The Chef’s Table and Mind of a Chef. After an episode featuring chef Graut Ashatz, Enrique’s father encouraged his son to follow his dreams.  His culinary career has not been a product of formal training at a culinary school. He learned be method began by watching cooking shows, cooking with his father, and  “hands-on” experimentation. Since his journey of becoming a chef and restaurant owner has taken a path of just doing things without formal culinary training and creating ethnic fusion foods—Mexican and Asian, he came up with the name El Charlatan. In Spanish, this word suggests a person that does not quite belong in a social setting, but nonetheless claims a space for himself. Enrique is not simply claiming a space for himself in the culinary world, but claiming cultural visibility and offering economic support to the food industry of the “Lower Valley” in El Paso del Norte area, a place was born and raised.